My Happy Ending
by Tori English
Summary: The cast of OUAT welcomes a new cast-member, with a violent past and also a new co-writer, who knows how to inspire Kitsis/Horowitz in terms of new storylines.. Rated M for violence and sexual content in future chapters..
1. You Look Out For A Friend

_**Author´s message:** Just as a wee reminder; I speak Scottish English, also known as Scots.. It means, that I sometimes get the spelling wrong. So forgive me, if I do that and I hope you enjoy my little fanfic._

 _ **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters. The characters are mainly the real life actors and my interpretation of who they are. If I do not hit them spot on, it´s because I don´t know these people personally. (The only character, I know personally, is the one, I loosely based on myself and a friend of mine. Her name is Tori, I hope you like her, she was needed for my story to develop properly.)_

 _ **And to you SQ´ers from facebook** , who have been ever so patient with this story coming along, I thank you from my heart, that you guys included me in your group. That being said, I don´t resent any of the other ships - as a matter of fact, I´m a bit of of ship-slut.. I love them all and wouldn´t dare to choose one over the other. This story formed as an SQ fic in my mind first (as a dream) and I always go with my first intention for a story. Sorry for this long talk, you just go read the fic now._

 **It´s mid-febuary, the year 2022. The cast of hit-series Once Upon A Time and their main-writers, Adam Horowitz and Edward 'Eddy' Kitsis, are at their first round-table since the 7th season began. It´s 14:07 o´clock and the actors has to be on stage at 14:30 o´clock. Interviewers are seeing this as an opportunity, to catch some of the cast before starting the round-table.**

 **~x~**

"This is done especially fer the audience tonight!"

Viktoria caresses a strand of her hair, which has been flattened and dyed white, for the occasion. Her dress is a plain blue one from H&M. The interviewer asks about her clothing choice this evening.

"Well, Am normally a trousers kind of girl, so when Ah was told to pick a dress, Ah immediately thought; Simple! Plus, Ah have a wee surprise fer the audience later on..."

She smirks at the interviewer, who quickly thanks her for the chat and moves on to attack Ginnifer and Josh, who has dressed up royally for the evening. Ginnifer is in a snow-white ball gown, with matching Cinderella high heels and fairytale-tiara on top of her deliciously teased ebony hair. Josh is dressed in a pair of beige corduroys and a baby blue silk vest on top of his princely poof-y white shirt. The silk band across his chest adds to the feeling of royalty.

Viktoria´s arm is suddenly grabbed, in the middle of her astonishment of her friends and their fantastic costumes. She is dragged by Lana´s fierce grip all the way to a hidden sofa in the lounge.

"We haven´t spoken all night and the paparazzi´s are bombing me from everywhere, with how it was to kiss your girlfriend and how you feel about it and everything! I didn´t know this would happen, when SwanQueen became a reality!"

Lana is dressed in a wine-red cocktail dress and with her latina looks, it makes her look like a Martini, stirred, not shaken. A delicious drink for the audience. And of course, the Bordeaux colour compliments her, being Regina, the troubled woman, who once was the Evil Queen. It´s hard to imagine Lana being evil, when she smiles that big toothpaste smile of hers. But right now, her facial expression is worried and exhausted.

"Ye look creamcrackered, love. Let´s go to the dressing-room, to get some peace, shall we?"

The Scottish accent rests in Viktoria´s mouth, as a steady reminder of where home used to be. Lana nods at the younger actress and follow her to the girl´s dressing-room, where Jennifer and Emilie is sitting, taking a break from all the chaos in the hall.

"Hello, lassies! Mind if we join yer wee tea party? Ah think Lana could use some honey in hers, right chicitina?"

The latina laughs at the Spanish reference.

"Even though, I´m older than y´all and would´ve protested on the nurturing, I really could use a good old English cup o´tea.."

She laughs. Viktoria puts her hands on Jennifer´s shoulders and lets the weight in her arms rest there for a bit. The blonde woman is dressed up in the same genre, as her on-screen family. A very regal-looking princess poof-dress, in a beautiful blue-ish colour, matching Viktoria´s plain summer dress. The small braids in her golden locks gives a youthful feeling to the already young-looking woman. Her jewelry is very simple, consisting of only the silver pendant, she wears on the show. The finishing touch is the red leather jacket, hanging over the chair.

"You do realize, you´ve made an entire nation go crazy, don´t you, Soldier?"

She looks up at Viktoria, who nods and gives her cheek a peck. Jennifer smiles and gives a ticklish schriek, while receiving the kiss. Viktoria slips into a chair, next to the American beauty.

"Ah had a vague sense, that somethin' down that road would happen... Especially after you, coming out publicly, only last year... Can ye make it a big spoon, las?"

She turns to Emilie, who is making another four cups of tea for the new party of them. The Australian woman is dressed in a dress, that looks like taken from a Greek myth. Her chestnut-brown waves is teased up in a fresh ponytail. Jennifer and Viktoria locks tongues for a second, passionately entertwined in each other.

"All the paparazzi´s are just waiting for ye three to go out there, let yer gay show and then they´ll settle down.."

A Scottish accent, as thick as Viktoria´s, sounds from across the room. All the women turns around at the male voice. Robert comes walking through, like he owns the place, as always in great spirits.

"And why are we so happy today, Rumple?"

Emilie knows just how to play her tv-husband. The grey-haired man just raise his shoulders in an _How should I know?_ kind of manner, when the young woman questions his good mood. The two of them have become pretty close over the past 6-7 years, they has been working together. Their eyes meet and apparently the same thought comes to mind. They laugh at each other, without explaining to the rest of the party. After settling down on a large pile of clothes, Robert gets serious.

"You guys should go oot there, before they kill Gosh and the three of darkness with cameras and questions."

Lana nods at the order from the old friend. She knows when to listen to him.

"Bobby is right... As always.. Let´s show 'em, girls!"

She puts her cup down, a little too hard, on the table. Some of the tea in her cup, defies gravity and lands onto the wooden surface. She then proceeds to stand up from her chair, but doing so, a sea of pain washes over her face. She sits down again, surprised as ever and looks at her friends.

" Lana, is there something, you´re not telling us?"

After months of filming together, Viktoria has become like a mother to the rest of the cast. Always thinking of them, before she thought of herself. The young Scotsman looks anxiously at Lana, as she tries to figure out, where the pain had come from.

"I don´t know, what just happened... What did happen?"

The brunette looks confused at her friends, with a helpless look in her hazel eyes.

"You should go home, Panda.. If that is serious, then maybe you should let Fred know.. Shall I call Lover-boy?"

Robert is fast with a phone and has, in no time, called Lana´s husband, Fred, and asks him to come to the centre. After the quick conversation between the two men, Robert helps Lana rise from her chair.

"Thank you, guys.. I´ll write to you in the morning, Tori..."

She manages to pull of a smile and walks towards the back door, with a tight grip on Roberts' arm.

"Get well soon, Lanita!"

Viktoria yells after her. She hears the response as a vague whisper from far away.

"Gracias, Amiga!"

~x~

"Now what?"

Jennifer turns to her younger girlfriend, who is clearly thinking really hard. Viktoria looks down, rather focused on the caramel brown liquor in her cup.

"A penny for your thoughts, Scottie?"

The blonde actress wraps her soft arms around the white haired woman´s waist and kissed her on the neck. Viktoria squirms by the subtle peck, placed beneath her hair roots, and puts her tea down on the table, where Lana, just before, had settled her cup, spilling a little tea in the fast motion. She caressed the heat rings in the wooden surface and turned around in Jennifer´s embrace.

"We have to go oot there, Duckie."

Viktoria suddenly realizes something. Jennifer stops kissing her and instead looks very confused at her, trying to decode the younger woman´s facial expression. Her demeanour is locked in one position, like a seriously pissed mother.

"What do you mean, babe?"

"Ah mean, that we have to rescue the others from being grilled toast and cover for Lana if necessary... Our cast needs us to go on stage now and our friend needs time to actually rest."

She looks at the blonde, who immediately nods and picks up her red leather jacket. Viktoria holds out her arm and Jennifer takes it, tucking her girlfriend closer in. Emilie and Robert follows them out in the lounge, where they meet Ginnifer and Josh, who has just escaped the last interviewer.

"What do you mean, Lana got ill and went home? Was it bad? Is she okay?"

Ginnifer whispers with Viktoria in a corner of the lounge, as the younger actress tell her what happened in the dressing-room earlier.

"Look, we have to go up there withoot Regina tonight. She needs to rest for real and we´ll cover for her, the best that we can.."

The determination in Viktoria´s eyes is not misleading at all. She means to keep her friend out of social media, as long as possible. Her knowledge of privacy in the spotlight has become bigger, as she has entered the spotlight for nearly 2 years, with the privacy on the side. She knows, that if it slips out, that Lana is not doing well, the media will be all over her and not give her time to rest and recover.

"You´re a real sweetheart, Tori, does Jen ever tell you that?"

Ginnifer asks with a smile, now talking in a normal voice. Her eyes are glistening with love and a certain glimpse of pride. She is proud, that her friends stands up for each other and has the guts to come out in public. Viktoria nods and blushes hard, avoiding her friend´s glance.

"Shouldn´t we heed on stage, Ginny? Ah think it´s about time, we get a proper sit down now"

She laughs and walks towards the stage, her long legs making her steps bigger, thus allowing a little wind to carry her chalk-white hair a little bit into the air. The flowing waterfall of white hair behind her, makes it look like snow falling around her head and all the way down to her waist. All interviewers and photographers stops whatever they are doing and just stares at her, mesmerized by her grey eyes and white hair. Her fair skin and hourglass figure helps along to the natural beauty, this woman possesses.

"Hello. Me name is Viktoria, Am Kitsis/Horowitz´s new co-writer and the newest member of the cast of Once Upon A Time. These are some of me co-stars! They´ve come tonight to answer some of yer questions about the show and its cast! Welcome!"

She takes the light weight microphone to her deep red chair, between Colin and Jennifer. She looks around at the audience and comments on all the cosplaying fans, that has come for the round table. The first interviewer stands up in the crowd. It is woman, well in her 30´ies. Her thick glasses and the tall purple hat makes her look like a miss-match between the mad hatter and Gepetto with long hair. Everybody smiles at her and gives her a 'hello' into their microphones.

"Um.. Hi! I´m a little nervous... This is my first round-table and I´m such a big fan of y'all. First of all, I would like to say a masive thank you, to y´all for making this amazing series, that we all adore and for continuing it into it´s 7th season. Seeing as both Jennifer and Viktoria has been included in the writing process, we´ve gotten to see the ship, we all waited for and saw from the beginning, as THE once ship. SwanQueen. So, the question is for the latter; How did you visualize SwanQueen, in the series, as an actual couple and how do you like the way it has turned out? Did you guys collaborate with Kitsis/Horowitz or is this episode just your doing?"

The fan hands over the microphone to a guy on the sideline and sits down again. Jennifer blushes hard and covers her cheeks with her hands. Viktoria goes on to answering the question with genuine enthusiasm.

"To me, really, it´s a dream come true.. Ah was a fan of the series, before Ah even met Jen, and back then, me favourite ship was SwanQueen. Ah think, Ah forgot the series a wee bit, seeing as Ah was stationed in Syria for 2 years and didn´t have a TV. But, to be honest, Ah really just loved the idea of the very first modern faerytale. The heroine gets the girl at the end, right? Emma gets Regina."

Jennifer laughs and raises her microphone, in order to answer from her perspective.

"I´m loving every minute of it! Lana is so much fun to work with and she´s a good friend of both me and Tori, so... And it was a ton of fun to get to write together with Adam and Eddy, who are such talented people. I mean, they came up with new ways to twist the fairytales even before I was casted. So, yes, we did collaborate with them, in terms of writing.. We did this brainstorm board thing-y, which almost had me back to my 'House'-days"

She chuckles and gets a laugh from everybody else. Adam takes over and breaks in.

"We would each come with our own ideas for this season and take turns to write it on the board.. During the shooting of the last episodes of season 6, we wouldn´t go through the day without scribbling something on it... We called it 'project 7', cause we wheren´t sure, if there was going to be another season.. At the end of the very last shooting, the four of us and a few other writers sat down in front of the board and put together what we had so far... The ideas on the board became the 5 first episodes of season 7. The ideas where so ingenious thoughts, that we felt, we could not pass by this opportunity for a greater ending to the series... That being said, these two ladies has come up with such a fantastic storyline for SwanQueen and the others, that we´d like to see where this goes.. So, we´re not closing with the 7th season, as it looks right now.."

He receives an applause from the audience and some even yell in excitement. A guy stands up in the crowd, his t-shirt says it all.

"Are you an Evil Regal?"

Sean asks in amusement. The guy nods and shows off the beautiful picture of Queen Regina from season 1. She´s wearing her red and black gown and her smile is as slick as ever. The young looks around the panel, but cannot find his favourite evil majesty.

"Where is Lana? I thought, I saw her in the lounge?"

A few people in the audience concurs and agreeing sound. Viktoria thinks fast and comes to the fact, that they have to tell the truth, just not the whole truth. The audience does not need to know, that she could not even walk by herself, because she was out of balance.

"Well, Lana didn´t feel so well, so she went home. Am sure, she´ll be fine tomorrow, though – so don´t you worry"

She compromise as much, as she can with her accent, to make her message clear enough. She did not want any misunderstandings, when exclaiming things like this. Sometimes being Scottish can be a curse. Especially if you are in Vancouver. She looks out to see if everyone got it and lightens up, when she sees, that she got through to everyone.

The next interviewer, who stands up, shines a little in the crowd of traditionally dressed Americans and Canadians. His ponytail is red as fire and so is his fully grown beard. His wide smile is bright white, with only one silver tooth. His t-shirt is a very bright blue with a white cross on and his pants displays amazing purple and blue galaxies. His cap says 'Scots Unite' in white on the dark blue front. His accent is without doubt the crown on this abstract work of art.

"Hello, Tori! Am a really big fan of you, keeping yer beautiful accent throughout the episodes.. As you can hear, Ah have it too, but you speak it with another grace, that only you can give to the Scottish accent... How do you do that? And how did you get to know Jenny?"

After he finishes, Viktoria laughs her lovable laughter. There is a glimpse of recognition in her blue-grey eyes. The green bands around her pupils widens, as she starts to speak, her voice a little flustered.

"You truly are a sweetheart, John. Yes, Ah remember you, from the West End Fest in London. Well, how do Ah make Scottish sound graceful? Jen, can you answer that?"

She looks at the older blonde with a love in her eyes, that says more than words would have done. Jennifer looks at her hands, as her face grows bright red. The audience burst in Aww´s, as the two shares a look for second.

"I guess, it´s because you look so damn good and foreign accents are considered sexy here in the U.S. You´re used to getting hundreds of thousands of people turned on just by saying 'hello', I guess that´s why"

She laughs, her cheeks going rosy again, and looks up at Viktoria, who has similar rosy cheeks. Her soft smile gets Viktoria´s knees soft and she thanks herself, for thinking of comfortable deep chairs for the round table, as opposed to standing up. She looks out with a quirky smile, that could make anyone want to do everything for her.

"As for how we met..."

"Oh god! Why didye have to ask her that question, John?!"

Robert laughs nervously, ducking under the slap coming quickly from Viktoria, behind Colin´s wheelchair. Viktoria fakes a hurt look and puts a hand on Jennifer´s left knee.

"It´s actually a rather dramatic story, Bobby!"

She lashes out and Robert puts his arms over his head, in a defensive manner, still in the ducking-position.

"As ye wish, my dear! Tell the fans yer romantic story"

She is going to protest on the romantic part, but then just nods and sits up, still resting her right hand on Jennifer´s knee, to begin telling the story of how she met her happy ending


	2. So Much For LA

_**Author´s message:** Just as a wee reminder; I speak Scottish English, also known as Scots.. It means, that I sometimes get the spelling wrong. So forgive me, if I do that and I hope you enjoy my little fanfic._

 _ **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters. The characters are mainly the real life actors and my interpretation of who they are. If I do not hit them spot on, it´s because I don´t know these people personally. (The only character, I know personally, is the one, I loosely based on myself and a friend of mine. Her name is Tori, I hope you like her, she was needed for my story to develop properly.)_

 _ **And to you SQ´ers from facebook** , who have been ever so patient with this story coming along, I thank you from my heart, that you guys included me in your group. That being said, I don´t resent any of the other ships - as a matter of fact, I´m a bit of of ship-slut.. I love them all and wouldn´t dare to choose one over the other. This story formed as an SQ fic in my mind first (as a dream) and I always go with my first intention for a story. Sorry for this long talk, you just go read the fic now._

 **It´s mid-febuary, the year 2022. The cast of hit-series Once Upon A Time and their main-writers, Adam Horowitz and Edward 'Eddy' Kitsis, are at their first round-table since the 7th season began. It´s 14:48 and the round-table has been going for about 15 minutes. Viktoria, the new castmemeber, is answered a question, she got from a fan from her homecountry.**

 **"How did you get to know Jen?"**

 **~x~**

It started aboot two years ago. In 2020. Ah lived together with 3 others; One closeted, one open and oot and a fellow bi. The openly gay guy loved teasing the closeted gay guy and me fellow bi girl clearly thought, she was something special. Ye see, Ah never spoke aboot me sexuality with me room-mates, because they where just the cheapest solution fer me, at that time. Ah didnae have enough money fer a dorm-room of me own, much less having storage fer me things. Ah sold most of me belongings, when Ah got the scholarship, so Ah would have money when Ah came to L.A. That meant, Ah only brought some clothes, a few photographs and an easy recipe on black bun, which is a biscuit of some sort.

Any ways, the openly gay guy was named Mitchell, he was full-blood Italian, his father owned a restaurant back in Italy. He was one of those fellows, that every girl would die for a date with. Unfortunately for them, he was gay and very open aboot it. He was always on man-hunt, where ever we went and would never hold still aboot the exquisite cuisine, he was used to back home. He also owned a scarf, coloured as the rainbow, that he would wear with anything, really, and he barely took it off.

The closeted gay´s name was Juan. He came from Buenos Aires and spoke English with this Spanish accent, he knew could melt even the most hardcore. He was fluent in 5 or 6 languages, because he went to a special school, back in Buenos Aires. His hair was a little longer, than a lad normally would consider masculine and it was extremely unruly. His left hand was constantly ruffing up, his already rather windblown hairstyle, which just made it look even more interesting. The reason, we knew, that he was closeted, was because he agreed to play truth and dare with us and consequently chose truth. The poor bloke had to answer honestly and he admitted to the 3 of us, that he was gay. Pretty brave move.

My fellow bi was named Mila. Other than being the only really feminine person in our apartment, she was also the youngest. She was 19 and she came from Los Angeles. You could tell straight away, that she was born in L.A. Even though, she was naturally brunette, under the blue and purple hair-dye, she talked so much nonsense, she could´ve been platinum. Other than that, she actually didn´t think too much of how she looked. As long as her hair was okay, everything was fine.

Oh well, they all went to the same courses as Ah did. Drama, music, creative writing and how to deal with media. Mitchell wanted to earn money, to move his family to the U.S. He wanted to do it the same way Elvis, MJ and a lot of other famous stars had done it. He wanted to make life for his family easier. Juan wanted to get better, so his contract with Latin-American Disney Channel could become a reality. He wanted to be an actor and be good at what he did. For Mila, it was merely a family tradition, attending those courses, because you where a failure in her family, if ye didnae act, sing or both. Nobody was surprised to find oot, that Mila wanted to be a model, not an artist.

And me? Me name is Viktoria, me friends and family call me Tori... Don´t everyone nowadays? Nobody says Viktoria any more. It sounds, Ah don´t know, posh and so utterly British. Ach, Ah came from Scotland to learn more. Me passions had been acting, singing, drawing and writing ever since, Ah was a little lass. Ah wanted to pursue me dreams and become an actress. Y´all know more aboot me than Ah do meself.

Well, it was a regular night out with the others. It was in May and we had just finished our last course and thought to celebrate the good grades. The others had gotten in their narrow minded heads, that just because Ah was Scottish, Ah had to love going on pubs! And they where´nt wrong. Ah love pubs. It´s just, that there is a difference between Irish and Scottish pubs. Most native Americans does not know this and on top that, they think we understand each other... We don´t! Ah still have no clue what the waiter told us that night. Never mind, we got our fish-n-chips and beer. Ah think one of the other guests heard me accent and found it familiar, cause he came over and gave us a real Highlander ale each.

Mila sipped on hers for a while and then decided, that she´d become drunk on this strong Scottish beer. Mitchell and Juan drank about half their beer, before feeling a wee bit queezy. All three looked very strangely at me, when Ah, after watching the others taste it, drank my whole beer, like ye drink water, thanked the lad and apologized for the bunch of titties, Ah had as room-mates. Ah then turned to my room-mates and questioned their facial expressions.

"Well, señorita, you just chunked all that cerbeza down, without even seeming a little bit drunk afterwards... That IS very insólito"

Juan stood up from his chair, slowly making his way back onto his feet and had to hold a tight grip on the backrest, as to not fall to his knees. Ah laughed heartily at the scenery.

"It´s tradition in Scotland, to get together and drink ale. After a few times, yer body adjusts to it and it is actually one o´ the things, Ah kind o´ miss the most.."

Ah smiled and looked at the other two. Mitchell smiled back at me, nervously, not knowing which leg to stand on. Mila just burped, as an answer and ran oot of the pub, to throw up in a bush ootside in the street.

"You better go after her, Ah will pay and go find an actual Scottish pub..."

Ah nodded at the lads, as they packed themselves together. When Mitchell had gotten his rainbow coloured scarf, they ran after Mila. Ah paid the poor waiter, who was still not understandable, and went oot, on a hunt for an actual Scottish pub, where Ah could have an ale with some fellow Scotsmen.

About halfway to the Scottish pubs in our neighbourhood, Ah began feeling followed. It was a man, well in his 60´ies, could´ve been me dad. At some point, he began walking faster and caught up with me. At first, Ah had no idea, what he wanted, but when he pushed me behind a huge container, it came to me. Everything Ah had ever heard aboot these things came to me mind. So did all me memories of serving Gods own country fer 2 years. Me brain blacked oot on me, Ah had nowhere to run. So Ah panicked and began screaming as high, as Ah could, in hopes of somebody still being in the streets on a Friday night. Ah think, it scared him, cause he then threw me down on me back, really hard, causing me to loose me breath fer a second, and stepped on me ribs. They didnae break, but he did bend some of them, which made it hard fer me to breathe. Every time Ah struggled, he´d hit or throw me into the container. At some point, Ah had come back oot on the street again somehow, with him running after me. At that point, he´d broken me right leg a wee bit and bruised me face and body. Ah had no idea of how bad it was, cause me mind was only thinking of getting away. He could´ve killed me. Oot in the lights of the street, Ah began hammering on the windows and doors of all the restaurants, shops and pubs in the street. Ah stopped ootside a pub, called 'Ye White Horse', to breathe and rest me leg, that was now hurting really bad. Ah had no time to take a closer look, before a horrible sound suddenly became much louder.

The old man had suddenly caught up with me, even more out breath, than Ah was and seemingly very drunk. He kept yelling stuff at me, on the top of his lungs, that Ah even to this day have never figured oot the meaning of. Ah suddenly could not lift me feet off the ground, so Ah just stood there and let him catch up to me. He then fiercely nailed me to the window of the pub, with a rough push of both his hands and started kissing me. Everywhere. Ah could smell the alcohol, such an awfully strong smell. Ah felt how his eyes ate me up from the inside. At one point, Ah got eye-contact with the beautiful green-eyed woman inside the pub. Ah opened me mouth to scream or yell, but the man silenced me with a large and sticky hand. Me eyes screamed fer help and she didn´t need a second look at my terrified expression, to decide her actions. Am glad, that she didnae have to. Ah could see, in the corner of me eye, that she dragged another woman out of her seat and both went off. The man began opening his zipper and Ah thought, _This is it... You´re going to loose yer mind fer good this time, Tori!_ But before he could drag his pants down and pull it oot, he was hit hard by something. Or someone. Someone with a fist of steel. Ah didnae see more, cause Ah fainted, as soon as he loosened his grip and let go of me. The pain was just too much and the stress in me head had built up to an enormous extent. The last, Ah remember from that night, was a big bright light. Two smaller lights, coloured in blue and green nuances was in the middle of all the golden light.

"Are ye an angel?"

Ah whispered and blacked oot.

Next thing, Ah knew, Ah woke up in an apartment, with beige walls and very little personal things. It looked like one of those you rent for a while and move oot again before even moving in. A blonde woman, with really long hair and a red Quidditch t-shirt on, was sitting in a big chair, not far from the soft couch, Ah was lying in. The angel from the day before. She was all curled up on the chair and her blue-grey eyes were fixed on the TV-screen. Her hair was messy and pulled up in an effortless ponytail. Her seating position reminded me of a cat, the more impossible to maintain, the better. Ah looked at her with fascination. She then felt me eyes on her and paused the show.

"Hi"

She turned to meet me glance, rather quickly, causing her to close her eyes fer a second, to regain balance. Her voice was raspy and deep, and her eyes were still groggy from sleeping, or not sleeping at all.

"Hi"

"How do you feel?"

She looked at me, her eyes scanning me for any signs of feeling uncomfortable. Ah thought for a while and then smiled at her.

"Ah actually feel just fine... But ye have to fill me in, cause Ah cannot remember what happened after ye beat the old pished goon up."

She smiled as well and moved her chair closer to me.

"You blacked out, so I picked you up from the ground. After standing there for a little while, we got company. Our friends, Josh and Colin came outside and scared the heck out of the bastard. Then you woke up a little.. You said, your name was Tori. I then presented myself and my friends."

She stopped and looked at me, with worry in her eyes. Ah gave her a confused look back.

"Am sorry, Ah don´t remember yer names.."

She laughed at me, such a lovely warm laughter.

"It´s okay.. My name is Jennifer, but my friends and family call me Jen. Yes, you may call us by our nicknames, if it´s easier.. Then there´s Ginnifer..."

Jen picked up a picture from a nearby shelf. It showed her, the beautiful woman with green eyes and a brunette with a wonderful smile. She pointed at the green-eyed woman.

"That´s her. We call her Ginny, which sounds like a pixie.. That´s pretty suitable for that haircut of hers"

Jen was referring to Ginny´s ebony-black pixie-cut, short hair.

"The other woman on this pic was´nt in the pub with us last night, but she is a close friend too.. Her name is Lana... And then, of course, Josh, Ginny´s husband and Colin, who´s a mutual friend.. Was that too much at once or can you remember it?"

She looked worried, so Ah smiled at her and nodded.

"Ah didnae hit me heed.. It´s harder breathing and walking, than remembering.. Thanks, Jen, it´s really nice of you and yer friends to help me."

Ah realized, that me voice sounded out of breath and that was what made the worried wrinkle on Jen´s forehead. So Ah tried to speak up fer her.

"Do you want something to eat or drink?"

She suddenly turned on a service-mind. Ah smiled at her once more and nodded.

"Have ye eaten breakfast yet?"

She suddenly looked guilty and shook her head. Her golden locks went flying around her pretty face. It took me a while to snap out of it, having fixed me gaze upon her.

"Do ye have someone, to tell you, how tapped off you are?"

It slipped oot of me mouth, before Ah could think. She seemed a lot older than me and very straight as well. Not that she couldn´t be squint, Ah just didnae picture her that way.

"Excuse me?"

She looked at me, her eyes wandering all over me face, searching fer a translation fer me Scottish glossary. Ah could see the blood flush up her cheek, as she realized, what Ah just said and Ah would have given more than a penny to know, what she was thinking just then. Maybe she was squint. But a squinted woman wouldn´t seem so innocent. Ah tried to save meself, with another sentence.

"Ach.. Would ye be so kind, as to help me oot o´ this monstrosity of a couch? Ah would like to stand up, please..."

Jen looked blank for a moment, while she processed the first sentence. Then she suddenly woke up.

"Uh? Sorry, of course, I´ll help ya!"

Her voice was flustered and dreamy. Ah know, it´s fluffy, but that was how it sounded to me. She helped me up and over to the tiny kitchen. When Ah was well-placed in front of the little one-man stove, Ah looked at Jen.

"Ye don´t mind fetching the stuff, Ah need, to make a proper breakfast fer us both?"

She shook her head, that was slowly going bright red.

"Of course not!"

After a little while of her, finding different items in the kitchen and handing them to me, meanwhile trying to disguise her rosy cheeks, Ah began cooking. About 15 minutes later, we where sat, once again, in the couch, with each our plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, tattie scones, baked beans and mushrooms, all of the above topped with a great deal of ketchup. A proper Scottish breakfast.

"Do you always eat this healthy?"

Jen asked, teasingly, with a sceptic glance at all the food in front of her. Ah nodded, with a face so grave, that politicians would have stood up in ovation.

"Don´t ye know? Scotland is the country with THE healthiest diet on earth.. We completely ootdo everybody, including Africa..."

Ah exclaimed, with a smile and a look, that dripped of sarcasm and dug into me plate. Jen giggled, like a little school girl.

"No, I didn´t know that! I usually just have a bowl of yoghurt for breakfast... Ehm.. What do you like to watch, Tori?"

She turned around to pick up the remote control, that was hidden between the cushions behind her.

"What do you think?"

Ah asked back, with me mouth filled with scrambled eggs, bacon and mushrooms. Jen looked at me fer a while, as if she could read me mind, and then clicked the remote control four times. A Scottish news channel turned up on the screen, with the image of a very fire-y haired woman, in her mid-fourties who, in Gaelic, presented the dull news of upper Scotland.

"Do you understand, what she´s saying?"

Jen was looking at me, with half a loaf of bread sticking out of her mouth. Ah nodded and then cracked with laughter.

"Not all Scotsmen speaks Gaelic, let alone, understands it, but a primary-school friend had a grandmother, who spoke Gaelic and she didn´t neither speak, nor understand English.. We found her interesting to talk to, so we learned Gaelic for her sake."

Jen had now eaten all her bread, not registering her own motions, all caught up in me persona.

"Thanks for the picture.. Now I just see this very old lady, in traditional Scottish attire, with candle lights in her eyes... Uhm, it´s the only channel, that I know is Scottish.. I don´t know, if there´s anything else"

She looked apologizing at me, with almost a puppy-like expression.

"Just put on ABC or BBC.. That is, what is running in me dorm, when princess Mila wakes up and needs to mend her hangover"

Ah smiled, as Ah surrounded the word 'hangover' with to fingers in the air. Jen took another loaf of bread to eat together with the breakfast, that was now starting to look like a food-war on both plates with all the ketchup now blended with the scrambled eggs looking like blood on top of the tatties, mushrooms and sausages.

"How could I not guess, that you live together, with a room-mate? Maybe it´s because, you seem my age, but you don´t look it.. By the way, I´m 39."

Ah looked, in surprise, at her. Certainly was not the first time somebody mistake me fer being older than Ah am, but this was something else.

"Actually, Ah live together with 3 other people... Mila, Mitchell and Juan... Do Ah really seem 39? Me birth certificate says 22 years old..."

Jen put her hands, in the air, in an apologetic gesture, as if Ah would hit her, after that comment.

"It was meant, as a compliment! Even though, you seem 17 years older, you still look your twenties, if that does any good.."

Jen put down her hands again and finished her plate of Scottish breakfast. Ah smiled at her, when she looked up at me, taking the last bite. Ah was a wee bit surprised, that this little woman could eat like that. We both put down our plates on the table, at the same time. You would think, that the inconvenient touching hands moment would have arrived around this time, but no. We just looked at each other and Jen got a bit awkward about her position. Ah could see straight down into her cleavage and discovered, that she was _only_ wearing a t-shirt. Jen fidgeted back in her spot. Ah looked questioning at her.

"Erm... You did something yesterday, that I´ve wanted to ask you about ever since..."

Ah looked confused at her and then came to the conclusion, that Ah must have shown me rescuers something special the night, they ever so heroically stepped in.

"Ye mean..?"

Ah formed a delicate tiny snowflake above the palm of me right hand. Jen looked, at it, as if it was the first time, she had ever seen snow. Baffled and entranced, as the crystal in me palm multiplied.

"If Ah had more energy, Ah would´ve showed ye something more barry than this, but Ah don´t think, Ah have the strength to control something bigger right now."

Jen nodded and looked even more amazed at the, now multiple, snowflakes above me hand.

"I just wanted to know, if I´d dreamt that.. It´s amazing... You´re amazing.. How do you do that?"

She pointed to the cold spot, inside me palm, right where the snowflakes were.

"It´s an ability, Ah was born with, Ah guess... Sometimes it´s a gift, and sometimes it´s a burden... Ye know what? Ah probably should call me room-mates and tell them, Am okay"

Ah looked excusing at Jen, who was like just taken out of a trance, when Ah vaporized the ice-crystals in my hand. She was anywhere, but present. She didnae respond to anything, Ah said.

"Yeah, sure..."

Her voice was airy and her eyes looked far away. Ah was thinking hard of why Ah shouldn´t confess, that Ah had taken a liking fer her. She clearly wouldn´t have heard it anyway.

"Ach, Ah like you, Jen.. Very much"

She was clearly far far away. Ah clapped my hands, to get her back on earth. Ah smiled, when she jumped by the loud sound of my hands clasping together and blinked, as if she had been in the cinema for an hour or two. Her eyes looked dim fer a brief moment, trying to remember our conversation.

"You know what, I´ll drive you home, if you want. Just promise me, that you will call me..."

She looked seriously at me, like I would just forget her after this whole time. She didn´t remember what Ah had just told her. Felt like declaring yer love to a dead person.

"Jen, you saved me life! Ah owe you... Erhm... Me innocence."

Ah looked at me hands, embarrassed to tell the truth. Jen looked surprised at me and twisted one of me red curls around her fingers, as we sat closer, turned towards each other.

"You´re a virgin? I never would´ve believed that... Anyhow, please, call me sometime. You have to meet your rescue-team."

At that point, Ah think we were both a little rosy in our cheeks, feeling the blood rise to the head, as we were sitting extremely close. Ah took the opportunity to scoop meself closer to her, in the couch. We ended up sitting with our legs intertwined and our shoulders basically mushed each other.

" Don´t be daft.. You punched the ned. You picked me up from the ground. You listened to me unconscious nonsense. You put me in yer sofa. You ate breakfast with me and you´ve talked with me. You´ve been like me room-mates should´ve.. Ah bet they´re not even the slightest bit worried about where Ah am, on a Saturday, after a disastrous dinner at an Irish pub... So, of course Ah will call you.."

Ah began to laugh, at the memory of me younger room-mates and how naïve and innocent they would now appear to me. As if they where not already acting young enough. Jen looked confused, trying to ask what it was, that made me laugh. She smiled at me, as Ah told her what had happened before Ah met Big Bad Twally and we both cracked of laughter afterwards. Ah could not help, but notice, how lovely, Jen´s laughter sounded to me. It suddenly felt, like there was a thousand butterflies inside me stomach and every time, she laughed, smiled, talked or just looked at me, all those butterflies would flutter around, so wildly that it warmed me whole body and made me blood flush to my head. Ah could see, that Jen was going bright red, as well, but Ah still believe to this day, that Ah was the biggest tomato, at that point.


End file.
